Supporting Israel

Israel is one of our closest and most important allies. Our nations share a special bond, which I will always fight to enhance and safeguard. Accordingly, I introduced legislation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel (H.Con.Res.92) that was unanimously approved by the House in November 2017. In addition, I’m the lead co-sponsor of a bill to help improve Israel’s access to high-tech military weapons, the Procure PGMS for Israel Act (H.R. 4707).

As chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services Subcommittee, I also boosted funding for the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) to support sanctions enforcement, which is key to holding rogue actors like Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas accountable. Additionally, as a member of the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee, I support funding for cooperative missile defense programs like Iron Dome and other systems, which protect Israel from rocket attacks and save thousands of lives.

I also co-sponsored and voted for several other important bills strengthening America’s ties with Israel that passed the House during the 115th Congress, including:

• The Taylor Force Act (H.R. 1164), which prohibits foreign assistance for the Palestinian Authority unless they take steps to end acts of violence against American and Israeli citizens
• The International Sanctions Enforcement Act (H.R. 1698), which mandates that the Administration impose sanctions on foreign persons and entities involved with Iran's ballistic missile program and those who provide or receive conventional weapons from Iran
• The Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017 (H.R. 3329), which amends and strengthens sanctions on the terrorist organization Hizballah

Rep. Graves and his wife Julie met with President Shimon Peres in Israel in 2011.

Rep. Graves and other Members of Congress met with Israeli government leaders in 2015.